Monsoon Books – Publisher of books on Asia

destination reads

Indonesia

Indonesia

31 Products

Malaysia

Malaysia

52 Products

Singapore

Singapore

52 Products

Thailand

Thailand

22 Products

new and forthcoming

NEW RELEASE

Someone is Coming by TA Morton

SOMEONE IS COMING by TA Morton

£8.99

NEW RELEASE

The Death of Sally Song by Julianne Cheah

THE DEATH OF SALLY SONG by Julianne Cheah

£9.99

NEW RELEASE

Pearl (Penang Chronicles Vol.2) by Rose Gan

PEARL (PENANG CHRONICLES, VOL. 2) by Rose Gan

£9.99

Western Chant by Barbara Ismail

WESTERN CHANT (KAIN SONGKET MYSTERIES, VOL.6) by Barbara Ismail

£8.99

Escape 2021 by David McMillan

ESCAPE by David McMillan

£9.99

Dragon Penang Chronicles Vol. 1 by Rose Gan

DRAGON (PENANG CHRONICLES, VOL. 1) by Rose Gan

£9.99

You Might Want to Marry My Husband by Yap Swi Neo

YOU MIGHT WANT TO MARRY MY HUSBAND by Yap Swi Neo

£9.99

Award shortlisted!

Death of a Coast Watcher by Anthony English

DEATH OF A COAST WATCHER by Anthony English

£8.99

popular genres

Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction

40 Products

Military

Military

12 Products

Biography & Memoir

Biography & Memoir

31 Products

True Crime

True Crime

14 Products

Our News in Pictures

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We like to see books well annotated with Post-It n

We like to see books well annotated with Post-It notes! Volumes 1 & 2 of Penang Chronicles and a cup of coffee - the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Posted @withregram • @realchunwai Historical fiction on the country’s 18th century is almost non existent. Or even any period. The work of Rose Gan, a Briton, who is married to a Malaysian, is a gem. I am now reading her sequel, Penang Chronicle II, based on the lives of Capt Francis Light and his wife, Martha Rozells, a Thai-Eurasian. Light, travelled from Phuket, to open up Penang in 1786. Recommended @rosegan

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Publisher’s note: Dragon (Vol 1 of Penang Chronicles) and Pearl (Vol 2 of Penang Chronicles) by Rose Gan are available from leading bookstores in Malaysia and worldwide.

Congratulations to author Ratih Kumala on the rece

Congratulations to author Ratih Kumala on the recent Netflix announcement that they will launch Indonesian period drama ‘Gadis Kretek’ in 2023 based on her book of the same name. Monsoon’s English-language edition of Ratih Kumala’s book is called ‘Cigarette Girl’.

Savour the familiar scent of clove and tobacco … for this is the aroma of Indonesia’s history.

Soeraja is dying. On his deathbed he calls for Jeng Yah, a woman who is not his wife. His three sons, Lebas, Karim and Tegar – heirs to Kretek Djagad Raja, Indonesia’s largest clove cigarette empire – are shocked, and their mother is consumed by jealousy. So begins the brothers’ search into the deepest recesses of Java for Jeng Yah, to fulfil their father’s dying wish and to learn the truth about the family business and its secrets.

‘Cigarette Girl’ is more than just a love story and the soul-searching journey of three brothers. Set on the island of Java the story follows the evolution of a family’s kretek, or clove cigarette, business from its birth in the Dutch East Indies of the early 1940s, and it takes readers through three generations of Indonesian history, from the Dutch colonial era to the Japanese occupation, the struggle for independence and the bloody coup of 1965 in which half a million Indonesians were hunted down and killed.

Rich in detail, with characters who struggle to right the wrongs of past generations, their relationships torn apart by the viciousness of revolution and politics, ‘Cigarette Girl’ introduces readers to the history of Indonesia through clove cigarettes and unrequited love.

@gadiskretek #monsoonbooks #kretek #historicalfiction #clovecigarettes #indonesianhistory #romancebooks #familysaga #indonesianliterature

Congratulations Anthony English for being shortlis

Congratulations Anthony English for being shortlisted for the @thesocietyofauthors #paultordaymemorialprize !

Good luck to Anthony and all the shortlisted authors 🤞

‘Death of a Coast Watcher’ by Anthony English

In 1943 on Bougainville Island, New Guinea, a Japanese officer beheads Hugh Rand, an Australian spy — a coast watcher. The spectators include villagers he terrorised as his mind frayed under the stress of pursuit by soldiers and their hounds.

Rand’s influence transcends his death. For decades he plagues characters who strive to cope with him and one another in New Guinea, the Gilbert Islands, Australia and Japan. Who misperceives? Lies? Self-destructs? Suffers? Loves? The layers unfold as the author entices us through cultural, historical and intellectual curtains, deep into minds and relationships disturbed by the Pacific war and Rand’s legacy.

‘The best kept secret of Australian writing … an exceptional novel’ Greg Barron, author

‘An artful novel that asks very difficult questions … a thought-provoking book … highly recommended’ Lisa Hill, anzlitlovers.com

#SoAwards #SoAwards22 #awards #soa #fiction #paultorday #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity @definitelybooks #debutauthor #bookprize #lovebooks #monsoonbooks

Congratulations Rose Gan on a really successful au

Congratulations Rose Gan on a really successful author talk at Woodbridge Library in Suffolk, England. Rose was over from Malaysia to deliver a fascinating talk to a crowd of fifty local residents about fellow local and 18th-century adventurer Captain Francis Light, the man who established the British settlement of Penang. Following the talk Rose signed copies of her books ‘Dragon’ and ‘Pearl’, the first two volumes in Penang Chronicles.

#authortalk #penang #malaysia #historyofmalaysia #penangchronicles #monsoonbooks #woodbridgesuffolk #historicalfiction

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